


Soft Trills and Bloodstained Feathers

by FuneralCake



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, But not quite, Canon Typical Violence, Empath, Empath-Naruto, Empaths make for good counselors, F/M, Feels, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Fix It, Fluff, Kakashi angst, Major character death - Freeform, Naruto has Wings, Nine-Tailed Phoenix, Nine-Tailed Phoenix AU, Phoenix-Kurama, Teamwork, hurt comfort, self indulgent fic, wind chakra powered flight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23529457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuneralCake/pseuds/FuneralCake
Summary: In another world, the nine tailed beast would have been male. He would have been a mighty fox and carrying him in Kushina's body would have influenced Naruto enough to be born a whiskered baby boy.He would have grown up alone, and would have craved for companionship more than anything. With the instincts of a fox he would have grown to be a prankster. A loudmouth. A boisterous ball of energy who would later prove the world he was more than the demon pariah they made him out to be.This is not that world.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 28
Kudos: 306





	1. From The Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> I may have fixated on Hawks from BnHA a little too much. Then, this happened.

Everything hurts.

She is blinded by the blood dripping down her face. Every blow she receives only exacerbates her preexisting injuries. Every kick makes her lungs burn even fiercer when she breathes. Through it all one thing never leaves her.

Their voices.

The cursed girl. The girl with the demon's feathers.

It burns worse than all the pain. Or perhaps she's gotten so beat up the pain has stopped registering. The cruel voices twist up something sharp and fierce inside her. It's all she focuses on even as the world spins and grows louder. More shrieks come but she isn't quite sure if they are hers.

She feels nothing but relief when the world fades to black. Doesn't even notice that the blows have stopped. That she is being carried and brought away somewhere safe.

\-----------------------------------

Hiruzen Sarutobi has never felt the years on him quite as much as he does now.

All he has are regrets. All they have are regrets. He thinks back to too many what ifs. Too many times where he could have done better by her. Better by her father.

All the while her heart monitor grows louder as it hollers out that one judging note.

He had failed her.

\--------------------------------

Hound looks at her, even when he doesn't want to. He has failed her so much, has failed his team, his family so much at this point that the least he could do is look at her young (so young, too young) face and bear the heavy weight of his sins.

He has failed to protect his sensei's daughter. Has failed to keep her alive. She died within the walls of the village her father died for. In the hands of the very people her father gave his life to protect.

The seconds toll as heavy as grief yet no one dares to move. Not to switch off the flat lining heart monitor, nor to begin preparations for what to do with her.. body.

Too young. far too young. All because Kakashi couldn't bear to look at her.

All because he couldn't look at Minato-sensei's golden hair and bright blue eyes on Kushina's face. And now? Now he's here, he's looking, and just like with Obito, by the time he realizes where he went wrong, everything's far too late.

A thousand jutsu, and not one could save her.

He sees the Hokage at the corner of his eyes, sees him begin to move towards her body and he intends to do the same when both of them instinctively jump back.

A fire roars where Uzumaki Naruto's body lays and Kakashi has his hands up readying for a jutsu, his other eye bared for the world to see. His genius mind runs as fast as it can and he almost laughs at the irony of how the villagers set loose the very horror they wished to rid the world of.

He sees it's chakra engulf Naruto. Sees it both with his sharingan and his pale gray eye. Golden chakra like fire engulfs her and her body floats. It pours out from her stomach, coiling around her body like rivers before spilling out over her shoulders like fiery wings. Behind her, he sees two tails form.

Absently he notes the still intact heart monitor beep again and wonders what that means. He squashes that tiny inkling of hope down, because daring to hope for miracles have never worked for him before.

For now he had a wretched, ungrateful village to save from the aftermath of their own stupidity. 

He is almost relieved when Tenzo jumps into action, wrapping her in a wooden cage. He had been with Kakashi when they found her. Had been the one to pull Kakashi back from slaughtering the civilians and remind him that Naruto needed them first. It wasn't enough.

Kakashi spares an eye towards the third who is busy rattling orders to evacuate the hospital and then errect a 4 point barrier over it to his Anbu guard. Kakashi stands by to provide Tenzo support and guard the third if need be. At least that's what he plans to put on the mission report he'd file a month or two from now. Maybe three if he could get away with it.

Truth is, nothing could pry him away from Naruto right now. Not even the Shinigami himself.

Kakashi watches her twitch and it sends a worse pang in his heart. Part fear and part rage laced with guilt so deep it might as well be a dagger to his heart. He refuses to acknowledge the small speck of hope this gives him.

The number of tails continue to increase and at 4 tails she lets out a shriek that was layered with multiple voices, sounding both guttural and melodious all at once. Her wings have spread past Tenzo's cage and more branches of wood sprout in hopes of keeping her caged.

Kakashi feels useless. Unwilling to attack not wanting to leave yet honor bound to keep his village safe. He stands there, ready to move at a moments notice yet unsure of what to do.

Her tails continue multiplying till there are 8 and in a blinding flash of light accompanied by a shriek she breaks free.

Steeling his heart, Kakashi's hands fly towards a jutsu. He thinks of his most powerful, non lethal jutsu even as he forms hand seals and dearly hopes it is enough to incapacitate her when something else happens.

She begins twitching again. Like a ragdoll limply hanging by some string. Her wings flutter behind her in distress and she claws at her stomach, all the while making distressed shrieking and chirping noises in a voice somewhere between human.

Then the seal in her stomach bleeds. It bleeds out through her hospital gown saturating it quickly and sizzles and burns as it comes into contact with the burning flames that coat her.

It's over as soon as it begins. All at once her frantically beating wings give out on her. The flames that engulf her are slowly sucked inside, starting from the tips of her fingers and toes, and the tips of her wings, back into her stomach while a different chakra floods her system. It chases away all the kyubi's chakra back into her stomach where the seal should be.

It was a chakra signature Kakashi is more than familiar with.

It seems that even in death, Minato-sensei was saving the village from it's sins.

He catches Naruto before as she drops, limp in his hands but breathing. Her pulse is heavy to Kakashi's trained ears and the hope he was pushing down comes back with a ferocity that knocks the breath out of his lungs. She is alive. Altered, most probably traumatized, but alive. Even as relief floods him, he couldn't help but stare at the new additions. There on her back was a pair of garnet wings, almost orange red in color. He knows that color well. As with everyone alive during that time. He hopes the third does something, because if he remains as lax as he was, Naruto's new appendages might just cost her the life she had just nearly lost.

Despite the grief it has no doubt caused her, Kakashi cannot help the gratitude he feels for the tailed beast. At the end of the day, it had still brought her back. It had given Kakashi a chance to make things right. 

Kakashi proceeds to thoroughly check on her injuries as the kage moves to have the barrier disabled and Tenzo gets the tree he's grown out of existence. He checks her pulse rate (steady) and previous body injuries (all of which healed though she seems to be suffering from extreme chakra exhaustion.) He already knew this, but now there is no doubt in his mind and it still makes him swallow because somehow, miraculously, Naruto is alive.


	2. A New Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto wakes up to a bright new world.

A village wide meeting was held.

Hiruzen might have failed once, but never again. Not now when he was given another chance.

What followed was later nicknamed by the shinobi as A God's Descent. It was the first time the civilians have met the hardened warrior who had fought through two shinobi wars and lead their village to victory both times. In one night Hiruzen had shed his Kage robes and unearthed the part of him that had been burried in decades of grief and dulled by years of peace.

It was time the civilians were reminded that their Kage was no mere paper pusher.

He tells them what their actions had almost cost. How weakening Naruto has almost let the tailed beast loose. How their actions almost brought back the very thing they feared and he feels no shame in enjoying the horror stricken looks in the villagers face.

He tells them it is only though Minato's clever seal work that his sacrifice hadn't been for naught. Tells them that it was Naruto's refusal to be controlled by the tailed beast that saves them. That it was a girl, no older than eight who almost pays the price for their hate when all this time she's been doing nothing but protect them from the tailed beast inside her.

He wonders why he never told them before, that killing a jinchuuriki would do nothing but unshackle the beast they hold and thinks that perhaps he had been a little too optimistic with what he hoped from them.

He executes the men who hurt her afterwards. He does so in front of the villagers. Accuses them of treason of the highest kind for endangering the village and almost letting lose the nine tailed phoenix.

Maybe this way he could protect Naruto. Could make the village see her for who she is and not what is inside her. And if not, then at the very least he hopes his words would buy Naruto peace within the village.

\------------------------------

Said girl is unaware of everything happening outside her window. She had yet to wake up after the previous days events and although the Anbu medic that looked her over said it was just chakra exhaustion, Kakashi was still worried. He had yet to leave her bedside but for the one time Tenzo had convinced him to go home and take a shower and eat a proper meal. He hasn't left her bedside since.

She is too young.

The Anbu medic, Fox had theorized that it's because of the Phoenix's healing power that she's alive. That the moment it's chakra flooded her system, she had been healed. That she had rised from the ashes much like the phoenixes of legend.

They still have no idea what to make of the wings however. They don't know enough to make a definite conclusion of how it came to be, and would need her waking up to see if it's functioning and what she can do with it.

It would seem like such a liability in close combat but if she's capable of flight? It would make her an amazing long range combatant coupled with the chakra reserves all jinchuriki were blessed with. 

Assuming she wants anything to do with Konoha at all when she wakes up.

If she wakes up.

Kakashi shakes himself out of these thoughts and focuses back to his sleeping charge. She looks so small. So pale and vulnerable and a part of Kakashi itches to be the one executing her almost killers.

He is glad he isn't there though, when moments later she stirs.

Her eyes flutter open, and she looks around instinctively. Kakashi watches her eyes flicker around and notes how they settle on the doors, the windows and the vent in one of the corners. He feels equal parts pride and grief in the action. He knows how long it takes to instill that kind of cautiousness in shinobi. Knows how they either train themselves to get it, or survive too much to ever relax without it.

She would make for a fine shinobi, but he grieves for what it has cost her. It isn't worth it.

He almost flinches when Naruto's head snaps towards him, blue eyes scrunched up in confusion and for a moment the grief abates, to be replaced by worry.

"Uzumaki-chan? Is everything alright?" Naruto has yet to say anything, still frowning and worry settles into Kakashi's gut but then she spoke.

"Am I making you..." her brow scrunches further in thought but Kakashi is overwhelmingly relieved to hear her voice. To hear her speak and not trill like the night before. "Worried. I was making you worried but.. Not anymore? You feel.. relieved."

She is still confused, as if not knowing what to make of it and Kakashi realizes that these aren't observations made from body language. Something else then. A modified sensory ability? To feel emotions in stead of chakra?

"What is it?" She asks and perhaps he is right when she's responding to the heavy bout of realization he is feeling.

The ability would be a boon in battle.

"Maa, Naruto-chan. I think you've gained the ability to feel other people's emotions." He tells the girl and thoughtfully she nods before turning slightly towards the window.

She must feel the extreme emotions coming from the meeting.

"Tenzo, inform the third she's awake," Kakashi orders the other and for all that they're technically the same rank now, Tenzo still does what his 'taichou' asks of him and disappears after a nod of confirmation.

"How are you feeling, Naruto-chan?" Kakashi asks gently, in hopes of taking her attention away from the gathering outside. The way she boggles at the gentle tone breaks something in Kakashi's heart and she must sense it because she frowns as she responds.

"Better than I've been in a while, shinobi-san." The scrathcy quality her voice had earlier had been fading. Given how much she had been screaming the day before, she must have torn her vocal chords but is being healed by the bijuu even as she speaks. Still Kakashi moves to hand her the glass of water waiting at her bedside table. She looks at the cup in his hand like it was something she's never seen before, then looks up to meet Kakashi's eyes. She must see, or rather sense, something she likes cause she takes the cup with shaking hands and drinks in short, steady sips.

A part of Kakashi feels like she shouldn't be that trusting of him. Not when Kakashi left her to fend for herself the past eight years. Not when Kakashi abandoned her. That he was almost catatonic from grief was no excuse. His sensei's legacy needed him and he was nowhere to be found.

"Thank you, um... Hound-san?"

Kakashi blinks at that and realizes why she apparently trusts him. She's apparently observant enough to pay attention to her Anbu guards. Enough to recognize him as Hound. Which perhaps isn't that hard to tell given the distinct hair and how he usually wears his mask sideways to cover one eye. Besides, he's almost always the one assigned on Naruto-duty. She only gets someone else watching her when he sleeps or when he's outside the village. Perhaps he should look into making that a more permanent thing. No use in keeping track of her as an anbu when she knows it's him anyways. At least that's what he tells himself.

"You're welcome Naruto-chan. My name's Hatake Kakashi. And yes, I am hound," he goes on to properly introduce himself offering a hand for her to shake. The hand that grabs his are so small and he absently thinks about teaching her how to correctly hold her kunai so she doesn't feel it's weight bite into her elbows. 

He discards that entirely parental thought. (For him at least. He remembers his father doing the same thing when he was much younger, teaching three year old Kakashi how to hold his weapons and mold his chakra and clean blood of his clothes.It's his only template for how a parent acts.)

He goes for a safer question instead. "Have you always been able to feel what others are feeling, Naruto-chan?"

She shakes her head, brows scrunching up in confusion as she thinks again. Kakashi figured as much given how confused she was about the ability earlier but figured he should encourage her to talk about it. "It was just.. there when I woke up. I was confused at first, cause... they were feelings, and I was feeling them but.. they weren't mine?"

"They could help you become a formidable ninja, naruto-chan. You'd be able to sense who wants to hurt you and others before they do." He tells her instead, wanting to ease her about the new ability.

"I wanna become a ninja," she declares and for some reason relief and fear settle in Kakashi's heart. She'd be great, he knows but she'd be in danger too. He decides to push the (even more) uncomfortably parental thought to the back of his mind as Naruto continues talking.

"I wanna be like Hound-san, who keeps protecting me. I wanna be strong enough that I can protect others too!" She declares this too brightly, just as the doors open and the Hokage walks in with Tenzo and Inoichi in tow.

Naruto squeaks in surprise and sits up. Only then does her eyes widen as her wings flap uncoordinatedly and she starts twisting and turning to see what was going on. She starts tearing up, breath coming in short gulps in what looks like a panic attack.

It's entirely instinctual for Kakashi to approach the panicking pup (chick? fledgeling?) and take her too little hands in his. He begins talking to her in a steady voice about the first thing that comes to mind which was his team. He pushes himself to feel nothing but steady encouraging reassurance, even as he talks to her about Obito, and Rin and Minato sensei, and a part of him notices that it hurts less now, to talk about it to someone who has shared his loss.

Eventually she has calmed down enough to let go of Kakashi's hands in favor of tugging at one of her wings and inspecting it with childish fingers while listening to his tale. Kakashi ignores the Hokage's beaming smile as he continues to sit beside her on the hospital bed, finishing his tale as they both inspect her wings. He ignores it just as well as he ignores the heat rising to his cheeks behind his mask and the warm feeling settling depths in his chest.

\--------------------------------------

"So Naruto-chan what do you remember happened?"

Kakashi very carefully doesn't glare at the blonde even as Naruto shrinks into his side at the question. Instead he pets her soft hair with his hands and when she looks to him for reassurance, he gives a small nod.

"They.. they were hurting me. A lot. And and, after a while it got harder to breathe. Till.. till everything faded out." Kakashi very carefully doesn't growl at this. Nor does he pull her into his lap as much as he may want to. He does however, allow his instincts to control him enough to keep petting her hair and preening her feathers. Many people forget just how much of a feral clan the Hatake were, just because Kakashi reigns his more canine instincts.

"Go on, Naruto-chan." Kakashi encourages, forcing himself to calm down. She could no doubt feel her anger and only hopes she understands that it isn't directed at her. He keeps on gently petting her hair.

"I fell into this large sewer. It had a huge cage in it and I.. I saw _her_ inside. I didn't know what was going on, only that evrything was crumbling and.. and.. she was beating her wings agains the cage. She almost did get out... Then.. tou-san came."

She must feel Kakashi freeze because she looked back to him. He swallows down the feeling, and nods reassuringly at her before looking up to meet the eyes of the Kage and Inoichi. They have grim, guilty expressions on their faces too and Kakashi gets the feeling that he isn't the only one thinking he has failed Minato.

"He said that the longer she was out, the better I was healed and that once I'm completely okay he'd use the last of his chakra to seal her back in. But that, that was it. I should never let the seal get to seven or eight tails again." She said this with teary eyes. "Tou-san told me what she was. That she was the 9 tailed phoenix. That, tou-san himself sealed her within me, because he couldn't ask other people to give up their children if he himself couldn't do it and.. it hurts but I understand. Tou-san said, he's trusting me with the kyubi. That I'm keeping Konoha safe by being her jailer and there's no one he could trust but me. That I'm Namikaze Naruto and.. And I am my father's daughter."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured Naruto would have the ability to sense intent? Because phoenix are known to sense goodness in people right?


	3. Preening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being an empath in a team of emotionally stunted individuals suck.

In another world, the nine tailed beast would have been male. He would have been a mighty fox and carrying him in Kushina's body would have influenced Naruto enough to be born a whiskered baby boy.

He would have grown up alone, and would have craved for companionship more than anything. With the instincts of a fox he would have grown to be a prankster. A loudmouth. A hyperactive ball of energy who would later prove the world he was more than the demon pariah they made him out to be.

This is not that world.

In this world, when the Sage of Six Paths created the first and most powerful tailed beast, he created the nine tailed phoenix instead.

Instead of a boy, Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki was born a beautiful girl with her father's hair, eyes and complexion. She was born without whiskers and a disposition for pranks. Instead she came to the world with feathers woven into her hair and a voice full of hope.

And later on, when she died and was raised from the ashes, she returned with garnet wings like the reddest of flames and eyes that could see into the hearts of others.

\--------------------

Naruto passes. Just barely. She still couldn't, for the life of her perform a bunshin and she didn't have all that much patience for the more mathematical aspects of the written exam. But she does well in combat. Almost too well but that's a given considering who her nii-san is and how much time they spend training. She also knows her practicals. Knows how to survive out in the wilderness and how to perform basic healing, again thanks to her nii-san and it's these grades that tide her over.

Calling her the class dobe doesn't really cross anyone's mind. Not when they know she could keep up with the best of the class in combat. Even Iruka knows that it's the girl's vast chakra stores that keep tripping her up over the bunshin and so doesn't give her much flack for it.

He does, however, give her as much flack as he deems necessary for her performance on the "boring" parts of the exam. Those aren't anybody else's fault but her own short attention span and laziness.

She really needs a better role model than Kakashi.

So when class groupings are announced, Iruka wonders if the Hokage stacked the deck a little on team seven. All three are rather intelligent after all, and while Sakura is severely lacking in combat, the other two power houses of her team more than makes up for it. Add in the fact that they have a sensor and the group seems a little much. Still he's just here to announce these things.

He hopes being around the Naruto and Sasuke more would make Sakura realize how far behind she actually is. Would make her take her training more seriously before she ends up holding her team back.

Before she ends up getting killed.

\-------------------------

"Team 7," Iruka announces and Naruto is too keyed up that she actually focuses for once. Her wings twitch slightly and she is all too glad she's sitting in the back most seat so that she isn't blocking anyone's vision with them.

"Namikaze Naruto." It still takes some getting used to. Naruto still sometimes can't connect just who her dad is to this people. Can't help but feel the slightest bit vindictive at the guilt and horror people felt when her real name got out. Mostly she is thankful however, that she got to bear his name. It feels like an insult to her father's legacy. To forget who he is.

"Haruno Sakura." Naruto watches the pink haired girl, who turns around to look at her worriedly. She's of civilian descent, and Naruto has been around her enough that she know she is absolutely terrified of the jinchuuriki. She reeks of fear and apprehension even now and wonders what her parents have told the pinkette that made her so terrified. She hopes they'll be able to get past it. They need to in order to make this team thing work. Her nii-san has taught her of teamwork, after all , and she can't let him down.

"Uchiha Sasuke." She gets whiplash from how quickly Haruno's emotions change to elation and the cloyingly sweet feeling she has learned to associate with all fangirls. A mix of want, determination, adoration and possessiveness that just feels so wrong.

She got Mr. Trauma and Arrogance and a terrified fangirl. The urge to bang her head against the nearest surface is almost too strong to resist. She has to work with these two, exclusively for most of her career as a gennin and for most of her time as a chunin. She has to sort through the two of them, _fix_ them, because that much adoration and that much hatred cannot be healthy. And she absolutely has to do it, because otherwise she'd be stewing in all of _**that** _ for the forseeable future.

She should really take Inoichi-san up on those psychology lessons.

Naruto goes back to staring out the window. Any more attention to the slowly escalating drama that is team assignments and she'd puke. Everyone's getting so keyed up and there are constant sparks of excitement, anticipation and horror all at once.

She stares enviously at a particularly fluffy cloud floating all alone in the sky. She'd give anything to be out there instead of in here.

It could be raining buckets outside, and she'd still rather fly than sit in this pressure cooker.

\------------------------------

When the clock ticks to an hour past their allotted meeting time Naruto feels about as much delight as she does trepidation sink in her gut. She knows of only one person who is this unrepentantly late.

She thinks of the emotional mess that are her teammates, and thinks of their Jounin-sensei-to-be and decides that maybe she really should get those psychology lessons from Inoichi-san. She loves her nii-san but even she can admit that Kakashi is emotionally stunted.

He should be considering it took someone with literal empathic abilities bluntly pointing out his feelings for him to admit to them most of the time.

She sighs and gets up from where she's perched on a desk, spreading her wings as much as she can in the cramped room. She wants to leave, she really does but chances of Kakashi realizing she isn't there and failing them on principle is a real thing.

She really needs to fly soon.

She's feeling more and more like a caged bird in the cramped room and with noting better to do, she begins preening instead. She begins to rearrange her feathers, taking the time to interlock barbs that hove come apart apart and pulling off various leaves and clumps of sand stuck to her feathers. She'd usually do this after bath time but she literally has nothing better to do and knowing Kakashi, they'd probably have another hour or so left before he comes to pick them up.

Passively she notes the impatience and irritation in her teammates, coupled with curiosity, likely aimed at what she's doing. She decides not to talk however. Neither or them seem like the type who would want to talk right now. Sakura just wants to talk to Sasuke, and Sasuke just doesn't want to talk, period.

Instead she begins absently humming, fingers still nimbly flying over her feathers. Being cramped in a chair really does twist her primaries around. They look so ruffled.

She doesn't notice how her humming has calmed her teammates , as preoccupied as she is. The calmness however feeds further into her own sense of calm and she gets so preoccupied preening that the door opening jostles her.

She could sense Kakashi's amusement from here. Though he does seem disappointed. Perhaps he was expecting a more explosive reaction?

He tells them to meet him on the roof before leaving via shunshin and just like that, Naruto is getting up and prying a window open.

"Right, see you guys up there," she salutes the other two and she feels Sakura's mild horror as she pushes herself out of the window. She is aware of Sakura's startled yelp,and sees her run to the window with worry.

"Huh. She does care."

Why do a lot of people think her wings are for decoration? They're huge after all. They span almost twelve feet from tip to tip and maybe they aren't that proportional to Naruto's mass but they instinctively channel wind chakra with every flap.

She loves them, her wings. Loves the sheer freedom flight has given her. The ability to breathe and just be away from everyone for a while. She treats them as a gift to her, both from the slumbering tailed beast in her stomach and her father who has protected the village she's overlooking right now.

Naruto landed beside Kakashi, who was leaning against the fence and reading his ever present Icha Icha, at the same time her teammates open the door leading to the roof top. She perched on the iron fence with ease, wings instinctively spreading wide to help her keep balance.

She may or may not have gone some extra laps around the building just to stretch her wings out a bit more. She also may or may not have landed where the sun would best illuminate her feathers. Judging by the conflicting awe and fear in Sakura she's succeeding in whatever it is she may or may not be doing. Sasuke, well he's too deep in whatever is fucking his head up to feel anything but anger and a small string of envy.

Yeah, that might take a while to unpack.

She shakes it off, hopping down the railing to join her teammates. Only then does Kakashi take his eyes off his book to look at all three of them. Kakashi gives them that eye smile he does as he assesses them, or at least the other two gennin. Maybe their dynamic too which even she knows is pretty crap. It's gonna be a rough few weeks before this team takes flight. If it ever does.

"Alright, introductions. Tell me your likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams."

"Why don't you go first sense, so we know what to do." Naruto could already see how this sours Kakashi's opinion just a bit. Not because she asked him to go first, which would've been good because information gathering is a highly encouraged shinobi skill. No, what annoys him is the blatant admission of not knowing what to do. A shinobi should always be in control of the situation. Even when they're not. Especially in front of an unknown, just like he is to them at the moment.

"Alright, I'm Hatake Kakashi. I like somethings, dislike others. I have many hobbies. As for my dreams.." Yeah, he's definitely annoyed. Even by Kakashi standards, that was being passive aggressive on purpose. "Okay you next Pinkie."

The drivel out her mouth only sharpens the annoyance from Kakashi, now tinged with disappointment and apprehension. Sasuke's own introduction, while removing the annoyance does heighten the worry the jounin was feeling. Some grief too. He's probably thinking back to his own team seven, with himself being the angsty, anger driven one and Rin in place of Sakura.

Naruto wonders if Inoichi would have free time that very same day. She forgot just how much of a trigger this entire team would probably be for her brother. If that wasn't enough motivation, the grudge that's positively consuming the Uchiha definitely is.

Has he had counseling with the Yamanaka?

"Alright, last." Kakashi's voice snaps her out of her thoughts and she smiles when she feels the fondness in his voice when he calls her.

"I am Naruto Namikaze. I like Ramen and dislike bullies. My hobbies include training and flying. My dream is to be stronger. So I could protect the people who can't protect themselves." Naruto sees how Kakashi smiles slightly at that and she knows her brother is thinking about that faithful day so many years past that changed their lives, perhaps for the better. She's thinking of it too.


	4. Hatchlings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The survival test begins..

It was easy enough to recognize her brother's all too familiar brand of bs. Him "suggesting" that they shouldn't eat breakfast for fear of puking means they reaaally should eat or it'll bite them back later. And being there at the crack of dawn? Right. The earliest Kakashi would get there is eight. Maybe. He'd probably be there by noon knowing him.

It was, therefore, common sense to pick up a couple of bento boxes along the way to the training grounds they were supposed to be in. She knew the other two would take everything Kakashi says at face value. They didn't know him well enough yet. Now, what to say to convince them to eat?

\--

When she arrives she finds Sakura trying to work her courage to talk to the Uchiha. Said Uchiha was brimming with determination twisted with hatred that they really need to talk about one of these days.

He can't go around using hatred as motivation. That's a big no-no. The scrolls Inoichi-san gave her the night before said so.

"We need to eat." Naruto tells them bluntly when she sits in front of them. She notes the suspicion coming from the Uchiha, and the doubt from Sakura hidden behind fear. She could intimidate that one into agreeing, but that's a last resort. Bonds formed through fear tend to go badly.

She should probably spend more time people watching so she doesn't have anything else but her books for reference. For someone with empathic skills, Naruto is aware of how reclusive she is. Hard not to be considering where the ability came from in the first place.

Her brother would be disappointed if he finds out she'd neglected an ability as much as she did. She didn't even realize how neglected it was until now that she actively tries to use it to help. She can tell the base emotion, sure but she won't know why they feel that, or where those emotions are directed towards.

Seems she's going to spend a bit more time going to T&I. That and people watching.

"But Kakashi-sensei said," Sakura's tentative words broke her out of her thoughts, and she turns to focus on the pinkette who immediately flinches. Was she really that scared?

"Kakashi advised us not to eat. Told us we'd puke if we do. That means he wants us not to eat. That he calls us here this early, fully knowing how rigorously we train ourselves at home, means he doesn't want us rested and in prime fighting condition. Kakashi-sensei is, therefore, cheating, which really isn't all that surprising."

She notes Sakura's guilt at the mention of training, and then how offended she felt at the thought of Kakashi cheating, then her utter confusion at how Naruto disregarded said cheating. Maybe they need to have a conversation about what being a shinobi means one of these days. It's the problem with most civilians really.

She is pleased however, when the Uchiha takes the bento she hands him, and Sakura does too, after seeing Sasuke take his.

"Ah.. N..namikaze-san, this is too much for my diet," this time Naruto really does sigh aloud. Such a civilian mindset.

"Sakura, do I look fat to you?" she asks, and the girl quickly shakes her head, apparently thinking Naruto has been insulted. "Okay, bad question. Have you ever seen an overweight shinobi in this village? Outside of the Akamichi clan, who needs the weight for all their clan jutsu?"

That does give her pause, thinking hard before she shakes her head. "Let me tell you a secret. None of them are on a diet. Or rather, none of them need to diet to slim down. Quite the opposite really, shinobi need to each as much as they could so they don't accidentally loose too much weight considering how much calories we burn during training and in combat." There it is again, the guilt and curiosity that goes with it. Maybe no one just taught her how to train and why she needs to train as much as she does? Naruto knows exactly what to do about that.

Now if only the Uchiha's issues where as straight forward.

In the end, Kakashi arrives much later than anticipated at 11. When he dangles lunch under their noses as a reward, Naruto understands exactly why he made them skip breakfast and is pleased that she ate. The gratitude she feels from her teammates means they've understood it too and it makes her feel even better.

Kakashi gives her a small glare, the same one he does whenever she takes away all his fun, and all she does in response is to smile all sunny and bright. He goes on to explain the rest of the exercise to them, and Naruto basks in the pride she could sense from Kakashi. This is why she loves figuring out his puzzles so much. Because he is infinitely proud of her for getting it right, after.

\--------------

"Listen to me. There are no two man genin teams in Konoha. It isn't done. Kakashi's pitting us against each other. It's another one of his traps." Naruto is glad that both gennin seem to be considering her words. "We need to work together, okay?"

"How do we know you won't just use us to get the bells," Sakura asked and Naruto's eye twitched at that.

"I'd just have asked Uchiha-san to go with me, seeing as he's stronger, Haruno-san," she notes the spark of outrage the girl feels, (maybe she needs a notebook for these things?) and decides that maybe she could be motivated to train more? "It would have been easier than convincing all three of us to work together."

"What do you have in mind then," Sasuke asked and Naruto is pleased that she makes a convincing enough argument. That and she seems to have stroked the other Uchiha's ego enough. She should get a notebook later.

\--------

It was easy enough to lure Kakashi into the clearing. Sakura was good at setting down traps, which probably isn't that much of a surprise considering her book smarts. She probably even enjoys rigging the mechanisms and figuring out how they work.

Kakashi seems bemused that they caught him. Naruto is therefore entitled to feeling just a little bit smug when his eyes widen comically at their combination jutsu. Sasuke's grand fireball and her great breakthrough mix into a screeching, fiery mass that crashes into the clearing, faster than any fire justu on it's own. It is twice as wide as a standard grand fireball and Kakashi has but seconds to substitute out of the way. Which he does effortlessly, only to end up in one of the multitudes of traps Sakura has set up on the branches around the clearing.

The goal was simple. Set a relatively obvious trap because Kakashi was the kind of jerk who'd walk into one so he'd be underestimated then utterly beat his enemies to the ground in retaliation. Afterwards, their combination jutsu would hopefully distract him enough so he isn't watching where he shunshins, and he'd get caught in the layers upon layers of traps they had set up around. 

They race to where he is, and Sasuke's hands close in on the bells, only for them to poof out of existence, along with the Kakashi in the wires. The alarm clock ring just in time and there, leaning on a tree across from them was Kakashi, reading his stupid books.

He was about to say something, when Sasuke jumps. 

\----

"I would have passed you, regardless of the bells, because you worked together. But, Sasuke decided to attack me to get the bells, even after time ran out."

The Uchiha was glaring from where he was tied to a stump, and if looks could kill, Kakashi would be dead multiple times over by now. As it is, he is in fact alive and does nothing but grin at the glaring Uchiha. "There comes a time when you have to realize when enough is enough. When a mission is doomed to fail and when it's time to retreat, before you get yourself and your teammates killed. Those who fail the mission are trash but those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash."

There it is again. Naruto feels the grief and guilt Kakashi feels and wonders if this has something to do with his teammates, one of which he couldn't even bring himself to name. That he could barely talk about most days.

"I'll give you another chance. Eat up, but don't feed Sasuke. We'll go again after lunch," and he disappears in a puff of smoke. Naruto sighs at that, before dutifully shoving a huge chunk of onigiri into Sasuke's mouth who almost chokes in an effort to swallow.

Sakura shrieks in offence, fear all but forgotten while Sasuke dutifully swallows even though he's glaring at Naruto. She doesn't even bother hiding her grin this time, shoving another piece into Sasuke's mouth who grumbles about not needing to be fed.

"You need your strength if we're going to be going against Kakashi-sensei one more time." Naruto explains while Sasuke chews he's second mouthful.

"Well you don't need to shove it down Sasuke-kun's throat!" Sakura shrieks before her eyes widen when it catches up to her just who she's shrieking at. Naruto just laughs in response, and notes how the pinkette's shoulders sag in relief and she tentatively frowns at Naruto.

"I wasn't sure Uchiha-san would allow any form of help, so I had to," Naruto just grins at the Uchiha's fiercer glare. "I won't do it again if you promise to let us feed you, Uchiha-san."

He glares even more, before huffing and tentatively nodding, just in time as Kakashi shunshins into the field with an accusing glare. Only to tell them they pass.

Team seven is officially born.

\-------------

"Ne Haruno-san, how would you like to meet a kick ass Kunoichi?" She then proceeds to drag the other girl to T&I with her, leaving her under the dubious care of Matarashi Anko while she goes for her Psychology lessons with Inoichi in the next room over.

Matarashi Anko had been all too gleeful to impart her "kunoichi knowledge" on the little civilian girl. Naruto was just glad the other Kunoichi wasn't too traumatized when she came to pick her up. She was muddy, and a little cut up, but thoughtful none the less.

She doesn't even feel anything but relief when she saw Naruto. And is all too happy to head out of the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so thankful for everyone whose been leaving such nice reviews. This story has a mind of it's own, really, and when I'd drafted the first seven chapters, Naruto wasn't even supposed to be an empath. It popped up during editing and next thing I know it's become a major plot point.
> 
> I really appreciate all the reads and reviews. Thank you! I'm glad people have been enjoying this.


	5. Dive Headfirst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team seven is about to embark on their first mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the support, I hope you're all staying safe out there!

"You have to understand Naruto-chan, the most integral part to figuring out how a person became the way they are lies in their backgrounds. Where are they from, what happened to the place, what happened to them..." Naruto listens intently, jotting down notes on the notebook she has _finally_ managed to secure, the screams coming from somewhere down bellow barely even registering.

Someone was getting tortured and interrogated, probably two floors down from where she and Inoichi-san was, and she doesn't even bat an eye. She had gotten too used to being here after all.

She remembers when she was first introduced to Inoichi-san. To the first tentative conversation when she woke up, after the _incident_. She had been recommended for extended counseling afterwards, to see how stable she was and to help her recover.

For the first few months, he'd visit over at Kakashi's and they'd talk under the watchful eye of her newly appointed guardian. It was rather stilted. Naruto had been too embarrassed to talk to a stranger, and had been embarrassed to talk in front of Kakashi. After a while, when her brother had sensed that she's gotten comfortable enough with Inoichi, he had been the one to suggest that they do it over at his office in T&I. He understood Naruto well enough, apparently, and was quick to reassure her that it was normal to be scared or embarrassed about sharing some details to people you'd be spending the foreseeable future with.

T&I was an experience. It was loud and rambunctious and the people there were probably a bit crazy, but Naruto saw how warm they were too. She saw how well the members got along together and when she later had the guts to ask Inoichi about it, he admits that the camaraderies stems from how much of their job they cannot share from people outside their profession. He said it's why shinobi tend to form such close knit groups with their teammates. Traumatic experiences apparently had a way of bringing people close together.

Then she met Anko and the rest is history.

\-----

Naruto smiles faintly at that, still jotting down notes about the age old argument between nature and nurture (according to Inoichi-san anyways,) and is quick to write down the reference books he's giving signaling the end to her lessons.

"You guys done?" Always early, Anko pokes her head through the door, a mischievous gleam in her eyes that fills Naruto with equal parts dread and excitement.

The woman had become a near permanent fixture in her life. Whereas Inoichi-san taught her how to move on from the horror that is her past, it was Anko who taught her how to love herself. How to be unapologetic about her oddities regardless of what other people think. Apparently the woman knows how it feels to be the village pariah and has taken a liking to Naruto.

"I think Naruto-chan needs her rest today, Anko. It's her first C-rank tomorrow after all," Inoichi responds.

Anko's eyes widen before she squeals and tackles an amused Naruto into a hug. Anko's emotions had always been so refreshing for her. Solid and steady, honest in her joy as well as in her grief the way not many people are.

"We're going to go out! We're going to grab that other teammate of yours, the pink one, and see if you have all the gear and weapons you need! It'll be a girls night out thing!" She then turns to face Inoichi, bringing Naruto who had still been trapped in her arms with her, and glares. "You're not invited!" She mutters childishly, poking her tongue out.

The Yamanaka of course just chuckles, giving both their heads a small in an entirely familial manner that has Anko flushing with embarrassment. "Of course. Take care of her Anko, Kakashi would kill you if she stays out too late."

\------------------

Naruto was early to the bridge the next day. She had woken up at 4am and had been too keyed up to fall asleep again. Instead she went for her morning warm ups and flew laps around the village be fore ending up at the bridge an hour or so before meet time for lack of anything better to do.

"Naruto-chan good morning!" Sakura was the next to arrive and Naruto was pleasantly surprised by the bubbly greeting. Did she consider them friends now?

The girl was a mess of nerves and excitement, and is apparently genuinely pleased to see Naruto, considering how she starts excitedly talking her ear off about last nights shopping trip with Anko. Naruto, while not much of a conversationalist, was a very attentive listener that the other girl apparently seemed to enjoy. Was she not listened to often?

Of course whatever progress she's made with Sakura of course falls to the way side of her raging crush for their other teammate.

Sasuke arrives and Sakura abandons her conversation with Naruto to attempt the same with Sasuke. Said boy barely spares her a glance of course, giving nothing but the barest disinterested grunts in response when probed for answers.

Naruto sighs. She should tackle that problem soon. Both the fangirling and the general mass of anger and apathy that is Sasuke.

\------------

Something is very wrong with the client. Naruto had thought so the day before, had confided it with Kakashi who had agreed to keep an eye on the man. He was too shifty, too guilty and the worry in him, the fear, wasn't proportional to someone who just needs an escort. Unless he's really really paranoid, which clearly isn't the case considering how he had taunted them as if they weren't trained assassins.

Even now, as they're walking towards wave, he would keep peering towards the undergrowth around them as if waiting for an attack. He had even glanced at Kakashi with doubt when he began an impromptu field trip lesson in response to Sakura's questions about the elemental nations.

She was running through worst case scenarios when she felt them. There were two of them, both feeling particularly malicious, feeding off of each other's bloodlust. They felt eager, as if they couldn't wait to get into battle, and a blood chilling certainty fills Naruto. These two would kill her teammates if given the chance.

"Sakura-chan, is there something on your hair? Here let me get it out," Naruto maneuvers herself so she is behind the pinkette and the civilian as they get near the puddle, and twists to face it even as the first chains lash out.

She therefore gets a good view of Kakashi being ripped to pieces, and the guttural shriek she lets out is almost inhuman. She bodily knocks back Sakura and Tazuna who are behind her, wings flapping to redirect the chains while Sasuke pins them with. There is a throaty not quite growl on her lips as she prepares to launch herself back at them when the two are swiftly knocked out and apprehended.

There, smiling brightly, is Kakashi. It barely takes a split second for Naruto to realize what happened, and gives the jounin a very flat, cold look. The apologetic, fearful look he sends her is almost enough to make her feel better.

Almost.

\-----------

They were in a boat now, deep into the fog that cloaks Wave and Naruto has yet to even glance in Kakashi's direction. She had remained quiet, closed off the entire time and judging by the guilt and worry her brother was feeling, he knew it too.

There were other, better ways to uncover who the brothers were after. Ways that didn't end up with his traumatized, impressionable gennin seeing him die in front of them. She didn't need to be an empath to know how much of a trigger that was to Sasuke, nevermind her.

Worst is he knew. Knew how much she feared losing Kakashi. Had nightmares of it before, when it was all new and she felt like any moment she'd wake up and be back in her lonely apartment with a mob outside waiting to drag her to her death.

For all his genius, Kakashi was an idiot when it came to emotions.

\-------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I made art!!
> 
> And since I'm uploading from my phone I had to go a long convoluted way just to get the actual image url instead of the link. After much fiddling, resizing and shiz I give you my veeeeeery rough sketch of Naruto. Just so you know how she looks like! 
> 
> Also! Apparently, I upload every other day now. Huh.


	6. Flightless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke hasn't seen blood since _that_ day. This.., this wasn't what he was expecting.

Sasuke's plans had been clean cut at an early age. He was seven when he came up with it and had built his life around that plan with a laser focused intensity and obsession of an Uchiha that's been wronged by the world. It was a simple two step plan.

Train till he was strong enough. Kill Itachi.

Of course, the more you grew up, the more you realize that life isn't that clean cut and simple. Itachi was a genius in a way Sasuke was not. It was a bitter pill to swallow, and Sasuke might deny many things but he knew Itachi's strength. (There was a time in his life where he admired that strength. Had felt safe and secure because of it. He doesn't think of that now.) There was also the fact that while Sasuke trained, Itachi was training too. He must be, because it's the only thing he does. (It was the only thing his brother knew. Was the only thing they knew. It was what they were taught from a very young age and even when they had time by themselves, 'playing' was just another word for training.)

Still Sasuke is nothing if not stubborn, and he will pull as many miracles out of his ass to avenge his family. To kill his brother, (cause maybe then he'd understand. Maybe then he'd learn to accept what happened. Maybe then he'd stop slipping, stop dreaming of easier days when his brother would smile gently, apologetically and always, always poke his forehead with two fingers.)

It was all well and good, everything was going well, or as well as it could be, given the achingly empty house and the loneliness he refuses to acknowledge. He has no need for friends. His plans are clear cut and his road is set before him. Friends would only get in the way of that. He doesn't need more people in his life. (He doesn't need more people he could lose. More people he could mourn.)

And then he sees Kakashi get ripped apart in front of him. He sees the spray of blood and all he sees is red. His body acts on autopilot even as his mind _screamsscreams **screams.**_

_He sees a blood red moon up above where a bright sun should be. Feels something thick and sticky seep into his sandals, in between his toes. Smells iron in every breath he takes as the world grow cold and quiet._

A sharp guttral shriek snaps him back to reality and he's moving without processing, sends shuriken and kunai to pin their enemy's chains down, discreetly looking at his teamates to see if anyone saw his lapse. His weakness.

All of a sudden his path isn't so clear cut. Not when he glances back at the puddle of blood that Kakashi was, and sees something else entirely. He bites his tongue, like it's just a genjustu he needs to wake up from, hoping the shock of it would stop him from spiraling down that road again. He can't afford to lose his head now. Especially not on the road, on a mission that they might be underqualified for.

The thought of needing to prove himself doesn't even register. To make their sensei see, make Itachi see that he could handle enemy ninja of a higher rank. None of that matters, because now he can't get the images out of his head.

A sinking feeling settles in his stomach, because for all his genius, the village had coddled him. For all his supposed skill, this is still his first time in actual combat. Now that he's had a taste of it, Sasuke is apprehensive. Because he doesn't want to see again. He doesn't want to remember. And it just makes him, illogically, terrified of seeing blood again.

(Itachi was never afraid of blood. Even when he was sent out to war at the age of four. Yet another thing their late father could fault him for.)

\---------

Naruto doesn't fail to notice how badly her other teammate is reacting and perhaps she needs to talk to her brother (when they _are_ talking again,) about triggers and possible courses of action to help. She doubts Kakashi would be of any use on the last part, but at least he'd maybe, hopefully be a bit more tactful until they sort it out.

Judging by Sasuke's emotions, melancholy, then sheer panic and horror then grief, then shock, then he'd even out a bit before repeating the cycle in a horrible loop of trauma, he is definitely not field ready. She badly wants to consult Inoichi-san, but can't just go behind Sasuke's back like that.

So what she needs is his trust. He needs to see that she won't use his trauma against him, and work with him through it till his functioning again. At least, when they get somewhere stable. For now, she just needs to keep her team alive.

No sooner do those thoughts cross her mind when they are put to the test as she drags an adled Sasuke and a surprised Sakura down to the ground, counting on her sensei to have done the same with their client. There before them, standing on top of a giant cleaver is one of Mists most notorious missing nin, Momochi Zabuza.

They cannot afford to lose right now.

\-------------------

Sasuke doesn't even have the time to question why Kakashi has a sharinggan. Not when thick, chakra-heavy mist is rolling in and Zabuza is blanketing them with killing intent so thick that Sasuke is shivering.

He has never been at the recieving end of Killing Intent before. Not even during _that_ time, and it had a way of making him feel small. Of being the frightened seven year old trembling as he watched his beloved brother destroy his life. He is shaking, almost choking, when a warm hand settles on one of his hands.

He turns and sees Naruto, who is pulling him behind her, to swap positions in their formation so she's the one facing the fight, and with a few handseals she is blowing away the thick gust.

The fog clears away just in time for them to see Zabuza barelling towards them with his cleaver, only to be stabbed by Kakashi. It turns out to be a clone, with Zabuza behind Kakashi who also vanishes and the tables turn once more with Zabuza trapped. The fight escalates until it ends with Kakashi trapped in a water prison, telling them to take the client and run.

The cold fear in Sasuke's brain tells him to go. It begs him to survive. To run away from the predator before him and survive. Except, there's a hand on his again, and he turns to his teammate who looks at him with trust.

"We need your strength now, Sasuke," she tells him and he finds himself nodding. He finds himself breathing deep and rolling his shoulders, grounding himself to the here an now, and he nods again. "I have a plan," Naruto tells him.

Sasuke envies her power. Envies how well she stands up to the clones. Most of all he envies how she does not tremble in the slightest. How her head is held high and her back stands straight in the face of the demon that is Zabuza.

Their plan does work to some extent. Sasuke throws two of his fuma shuriken, only for Naruto to use the kawarimi on one of them last minute and force Zabuza to move. He lets go of Kakashi's prison. Only to grab one of Naruto's wings.

It gives a sickening crunch and Naruto's piercing shriek echo violently in Sasuke's mind. She is thrown into a tree and crumples underneath it, laying still and unmoving. Zabuza doesn't follow up however, doesn't finish her off because Kakashi is after him with a newfound determination and visciousness that the Jounin didn't seem to have earlier.

"I'll guard Tazuna-san, Sasuke-kun. Please grab Naruto." Sakura asks of him, worried and he wondered when that happened because he was pretty sure the fangirl had been terrified of their other teammate.

"Hn." He does go after her, skirting the edges of the Jounin battle to pick up their fallen teammate. It's the least he could do considering how well she has grounded him earlier. Had they been in the fight with his head as muddled as it was he would no doubt have died. It's the least he can do, he tells himself.

He grabs her fallen form, tucking her wing in and retreating back to their other teammate, who quickly rushes to check the other's form. Sasuke looks back to the battle in time to see a hunter nin swoop in and take the body away from Kakashi. It would make sense. The mist village would want to keep Zabuza's secrets and take the sword back. Kakashi watches the hunter nin go, before rushing towards them to check on Naruto himself.

The jounin is the one who carries Naruto back to Tazuna's house after Sakura finished splinting and bandaging her up. He is definitely exhausted though, trembling slightly in a way Sasuke wouldn't notice if he hadn't been trained from the very begining to use his eyes and observe. Interpret.

The jounin had powered on long enough to lay her in bed, had even managed to tuck her in before promptly passing out himself. Sasuke doesn't know how he lasted that long, having obviously exhausted his chakra stores, but it seemed that he was determined enough to make sure Naruto was safe. What a stubborn idiot.

\-------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PTSD anyone?
> 
> I just think Sasuke couldn't have been as well adjusted as canon? I dunno how well you'd all receive it but my brain came up with it so we're going this direction. PTSD, with blood as a trigger. Does this count as hemophobia? Roughly?
> 
> Anyways, thank you guys for all the support. I'm glad people are enjoying this.


End file.
